Tuesday Catch Up

I'm already starting to fall behind on my posting. So, I'll try to get caught up a bit. I worked much of the day on Tuesday, calling it quits around 4 PM or so and my co-worker was nice enough to accompany me on the subway back towards my hotel, even though he wasnt really going in that direction. I've pretty much gotten the hang of the subway system at this point, and I explained to him that I would be ok with out him, but he was very gracious and made sure that I safely made it back.

He was also kind enough to recommend that if I had some time, I should visit the Tokyo Tower. So, I set out map in hand to navigate the subway and check out the tower. By this point it was dark out and I'm fairly certain that my guide book led me astray as far as which stop to get off at. I ran into a police officer who didnt speak much english, but he obviously understood Tokyo Tower and he was kind enough to write down the correct subway line and stop for me. He also pointed at a neon building and said to head that way to the closest subway stop.


In my stumbling around I happened upon a pretty little park and then, apparently, a Christmas art exhibit in Midtown Tokyo. There were plenty of people gathered around this square patch of land that had blue Christmas lights run through it, meant to mimic the waves of the ocean. The exhibit was called 'Water' and I think it was put on in association with Coca-Cola. Regardless, I was happy to stumble upon it.

Next I made my way to the subway station and did indeed find the Tokyo Tower. From what I read, there was apparently a period of time when Japanese architects were doing their best to mimic designs from around the world. This was their stab at the Eiffel Tower. Having never seen the original, I was duly impressed. Took the elevator up to the observation level, with amazing 360 degree views of the city. My camera just wasnt doing the job as it wasnt open air and every picture was underexposed. But you get the idea. Well worth my time.

Next it was time to get a bite to eat. I've been finding this part of the day rather intimidating. I dont want to eat my meals at the hotel because that's just not experiencing the city life at all, but most of the restaurants are difficult to deal with if you dont speak the language. Rather than getting a seat at the first sushi spot I tried, I was pointed to the door, because they said they didnt speak any english. Very curtious, just not interested in struggling through the language barrier for 2,000 Yen. I understood.

The second place I went into was a little yakitori place where they served hunks of meat on sticks and different types of soup. Again, lots of stares at the only non-Asian in the room, but I can deal with that. There was only one seat available at the bar and immediately two guys, both pretty well drunk from what I could tell, started harassing me a bit. Nothing serious, just making me feel unwanted. I thought about taking off, but instead ordered a couple pieces of food and a beer. The girls on the other side of me spoke very good english, the best I've encountered, and they tried to help me with the meal choices and pointed me to some spots worth seeing on the map. We had a couple sakes and after a while everyone started to ignore me. The girl in the middle had just purchased a pretty cool toy that allowed her to beam a picture from her phone to a polaroid-type device and print it out. Everyone in the bar was shocked and amazed. Japan is definitely ahead of us as far as cool gear goes.

Feeling much more comfortable indeed. And judging by the time it takes to get from one side of Tokyo to the other on the train, it's much smaller than New York. At least the subway accessible bit seems to be.